A former Liverpool primary school headteacher has been jailed for having indecent images of children.

Matthew Hargreaves, 47, from Rochdale, was the headteacher of King’s Northway Primary Academy in Wavertree, Liverpool, until he was suspended following his arrest earlier this year.

His offending came to light in March 2025 when a report of indecent images of children being uploaded on to a chatroom was reported to Merseyside Police.

The images were traced to Hargreaves’s home. Police visited his home and located a number of mobile phones and laptops.

When these were examined, several indecent images of children were discovered, and Hargreaves was subsequently arrested.

Hargreaves was suspended from his post as headteacher and the parents and guardians of children at the school where he worked were informed.

Hargreaves was interviewed by police.  The Crown Prosecution Service, based on the evidence discovered by Merseyside Police, authorised that he be charged with three offences of making indecent images of children and one count of taking an indecent image of a child.

He admitted at Liverpool Crown Court on 27 June 2026 to three offences and pleaded guilty to the remaining charge at a further hearing at the same court on 24 September 2026.

Today, 23 October 2026, at Liverpool Crown Court, he was given an immediate jail term of 25 months. The Crown Prosecution Service also successfully applied to the court for a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to be imposed. It will be in place for ten years.

Leanne Kennedy, District Crown Prosecutor of CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: “Matthew Hargreaves was in a position of trust as the headteacher of a primary school in Liverpool , where he had worked for a number of years. He was also the school’s designated safeguarding lead.

“He had no previous convictions and appeared to be a pillar of the community. Yet he was living a double life, making and taking indecent images of children.

“The Crown Prosecution Service successfully applied for a comprehensive sexual harm prevention order to be imposed on him by the court to prevent him offending in this way again.

“Every indecent image of a child is an image of a child being abused. The Crown Prosecution Service works with the police to bring to justice those people who are involved in this offending in any way.”